Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The local property tax, LPT, exemption is intended to apply to those properties that have a significant level of pyrite damage. While this means that not all properties that are affected by pyrite are eligible for the exemption, it is accepted that the presence of pyrite, whether it has already caused structural damage to a property or has the potential to cause such damage, will have a negative effect on the market value of the property. If the property was affected with pyrite on the valuation date then that can be reflected in the selected valuation band. If a property owner feels that the valuation band selected on the valuation date of 1 May 2013 did not take account of the existence of pyrite then he or she should make contact with Revenue to discuss the possibility of reducing the band.

The Deputy will be aware that the qualifying criteria in respect of exemption from LPT for properties with significant pyritic damage were modified by the Finance (Local Property Tax) (Amendment) Act 2015 which was signed into law on 20 December 2015. The Act modified the qualifying criteria to include properties where a certificate of damage has been completed by a competent person as set down in the relevant regulations, the property has been accepted into the pyrite remediation scheme operated by the Pyrite Resolution Board, an insurance company has remediated the property or provided sufficient funds to carry out the remediation or, the person who built the property has remediated it or provided sufficient funds to carry out the remediation.

The relaxation of the certification requirement was one of the recommendations made by Dr. Don Thornhill in his review of the operation of the local property tax on behalf of the Government in 2015. The changes are significant in that where a property has been included in the pyrite remediation scheme by the Pyrite Resolution Board, PRB, without testing, or a property has been remediated by a guarantee company or by a builder or developer or where a party is compensated in lieu of remediation, without testing, Revenue will now accept confirmation of remediation or compensation from the either the PRB or the relevant party for the purposes of exemption without testing or NSAI certification.

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